The War on Men

Millions of Americans celebrated the idea of ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ this past July 4th — but millions of Americans didn’t. Across the country, a growing number of individuals, particularly young men, are walling themselves off from society. The question, though, is why?

In Japan, the issue of social withdrawal is so severe that the Japanese even have a specific term for it: hikikomori. Hiki means “to withdraw,” komori “to remain inside.” It is estimated that at least 1.5 million Japanese people, many of whom are young men in their 20s and 30s, have completely withdrawn from broader society.

Some 6,000 miles away, in the U.S., young men are also retreating en masse. They stubbornly refuse to cooperate or engage with other members of society. This is a growing problem, one that must be addressed sooner rather than later. America has its own hikikomori problem.

As the political economist Nicolas Eberstadt recently warned, a shocking 7 million prime working-age men ( ages 25-54) are jobless. Worse still, they have absolutely no interest in finding work. In other words, enough men to populate the country of Paraguay simply refuse to work.